Second operation for Ballesteros

Thursday 17 January 2008 00:10 BST

Seve Ballesteros underwent further surgery on Thursday but remains in a stable condition.

The Spanish golf star required another operation after his condition deteriorated in his recovery from surgery to remove a brain tumour on Tuesday. The procedure was needed to reduce pressure on Ballesteros' brain.

A statement from the LA Paz hospital in Madrid read: "The patient is stable and remains under observation in the intensive care unit having undergone a decompressive craniectomy after suffering from a decrease in the level of consciousness due to a cerebral edema."

Ballesteros was taken to the hospital on October 6 after he collapsed and briefly lost consciousness at Madrid airport.

The 51-year-old announced on Sunday that he had been diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Ballesteros won the British Open in 1979, 1984 and 1988 and became the first European to win the US Masters in 1980, a title he claimed again in 1983.